2018-02-22T06:33:12ZAssessing understanding of relative clauses: a comparison of multiple-choice comprehension versus sentence repetitionhttp://hdl.handle.net/10468/3495
Assessing understanding of relative clauses: a comparison of multiple-choice comprehension versus sentence repetition
Frizelle, Pauline; O'Neill, Clodagh; Bishop, Dorothy V. M.
Although sentence repetition is considered a reliable measure of children's grammatical knowledge, few studies have directly compared children's sentence repetition performance with their understanding of grammatical structures. The current study aimed to compare children's performance on these two assessment measures, using a multiple-choice picture-matching sentence comprehension task and a sentence repetition task. Thirty-three typically developing children completed both assessments, which included relative clauses representing a range of syntactic roles. Results revealed a similar order of difficulty of constructions on both measures but little agreement between them when evaluating individual differences. Interestingly, repetition was the easier of the two measures, with children showing the ability to repeat sentences they did not understand. This discrepancy is primarily attributed to the additional processing load resulting from the design of multiple-choice comprehension tasks, and highlights the fact that these assessments are invoking skills beyond those of linguistic competence.
2017-01-16T00:00:00ZThe relationship between information carrying words, memory and language skills in school age children with specific language impairmenthttp://hdl.handle.net/10468/4793
The relationship between information carrying words, memory and language skills in school age children with specific language impairment
Frizelle, Pauline; Harte, Jennifer; O'Sullivan, Kathleen; Fletcher, Paul; Gibbon, Fiona E.
The receptive language measure information-carrying word (ICW) level, is used extensively by speech and language therapists in the UK and Ireland. Despite this it has never been validated via its relationship to any other relevant measures. This study aims to validate the ICW measure by investigating the relationship between the receptive ICW score of children with specific language impairment (SLI) and their performance on standardized memory and language assessments. Twenty-seven children with SLI, aged between 5; 07 and 8; 11, completed a sentence comprehension task in which the instructions gradually increased in number of ICWs. The children also completed subtests from The Working Memory Test Battery for children and The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-4. Results showed that there was a significant positive relationship between both language and memory measures and children's ICW score. While both receptive and expressive language were significant in their contribution to children's ICW score, the contribution of memory was solely determined by children's working memory ability. ICW score is in fact a valid measure of the language ability of children with SLI. However therapists should also be cognisant of its strong association with working memory when using this construct in assessment or intervention methods.
2017-01-01T00:00:00ZGrowth in syntactic complexity between 4 years and adulthood: evidence from a narrative taskhttp://hdl.handle.net/10468/4877
Growth in syntactic complexity between 4 years and adulthood: evidence from a narrative task
Frizelle, Pauline; Thompson, Paul A.; McDonald, David; Bishop, Dorothy V. M.
Studies examining productive syntax have used varying elicitation methods and have tended to focus on either young children or adolescents/adults, so we lack an account of syntactic development throughout middle childhood. We describe here the results of an analysis of clause complexity in narratives produced by 354 speakers aged from 4 years to adulthood using the Expressive, Receptive and Recall of Narrative Instrument (ERRNI). We show that the number of clauses per utterance increased steadily through this age range. However the distribution of clause types depended on which of two stories was narrated, even though both stories were designed to have a similar story structure. In addition, clausal complexity was remarkably similar regardless of whether the speaker described a narrative from pictures, or whether the same narrative was recalled from memory. Finally, our findings with the youngest children showed that the task of generating a narrative from pictures may underestimate syntactic competence in those aged below 5 years.
2017-01-01T00:00:00ZLard-eaters, gay-ropeans, sheeple and prepositions: lexical and syntactic devices employed to position the other in Russian online political forumshttp://hdl.handle.net/10468/4415
Lard-eaters, gay-ropeans, sheeple and prepositions: lexical and syntactic devices employed to position the other in Russian online political forums
Devlin, Anne Marie
The study focuses on the linguistic means employed by Russians in online political message boards to position both the political self and the political other in a time of crisis. It investigates how insults and the prepositional choice of either v/na + Ukraine were used to demarcate socio-political identity boundaries. The paper highlights the typologically different insults used by each group to position the other politically and then proceeds to examine how prepositional choice is employed to position the political self. Data were gathered from two online news platforms – svoboda.org and slon.ru – dating from the beginning of February 2014 to the end of March 2014 and focus on the discourse of two polarised political groups of commenters – pro-Kremlin and anti-Kremlin. It is a mixed methodological approach drawing on comments posted in response to 361 articles by 476 separate posters. The data are subsequently analysed according to positioning theory within the paradigm of computer-mediated discourse.
2016-11-25T00:00:00Z